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Long ago, there was a national organization
of beekeepers worthy of the name "national".

Yes, they hired lawyers to defend beekeepers
when the legal action threatened "the industry",
or when basic farming rights were threatened.

Some of the landmark cases in "bee law" were
handled by this sort of intervention.

Sadly, we no longer have such a national
organization. We have the AHPA, which caters
to the large commercial beekeepers (mostly west
of the Mississippi), and claims to represent
"all beekeepers", or dismiss beekeepers with
less than 1000 hives as "hobbyists".

We also have the ABF, which tries to be all things
to all people, and also claims to represent
"all beekeepers".

Anyone who reads the letters to the editor columns of
Bee Culture or ABJ knows that the two groups apparently
spend more time resenting each other than working together.
In fact, I can't remember the last time that the two groups
agreed on anything.

The regional groups (EAS, HAS, and WAS) have clear charters,
and would tend to view such getting involved in such incidents
as being beyond the limits of their charters. They'd be right.

At the state level, there is at least Ohio, who has
a "best practices" document, and would at least provide
someone to testify in defense of a beekeeper who followed
these "best practices". But the legal bills would be
likely borne by the beekeeper.

Most other states have at least an extension person who
would be likely to provide the same service if asked.

The good news is that the internet can be used to raise
funds, muster troops, and refine arguments. Read the
"this might be trouble" thread, and see how the group
took a reasonable approach, and slowly realized that
"Pat" was not about to be bothered with being reasonable.

If these people are sued, they will likely appeal for help,
and they will get it. Everyone can send a buck. Motions
for a directed verdict are cheap, and that's all that would
be required to slam-dunk any lawsuit that might be filed by
our self-nominated candidate for a Darwin Award.